The Order
The Saffron Order
Wholetimers — monks and nuns who renounce home and possessions, teach meditation without charge, and go wherever they are posted.
Ranks, and what the robes say
A wholetimer’s path runs through stages, and the dress reads like a rank insignia — worn so that anyone, anywhere, can tell who has taken which vows.
Ácárya / Ácáryá
Dádá (brother) · Didi (sister)
"One who teaches by example" — an ordained teacher, trained at the order’s training centres and authorised to impart the lessons of meditation. Nuns are as fully trained and qualified as monks — in this order that has never been otherwise.
Brahmacárii / Brahmacárinii
Junior monks and nuns
The first renunciate stage. They teach the six basic lessons of meditation.
Avadhúta / Avadhútiká
Senior monks and nuns
After the kápálika initiation. Historically an ash-smeared renunciate beyond convention; the founder remade the tradition into a uniform for social workers.
“Saffron and red do not a yogi make / With mind undyed he remains a fake… Dye your mind with His colour.”
— Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti
The robe signifies a mind dyed in universal love — never the cloth alone.
Documented seniors of the order
A short list, not a who’s-who: a name appears here only when more than one source states the same role, at least one of them official. The order publishes no worldwide roster — names join this list as sources confirm them, never before.
Ácárya Shambhúshivánanda Avadhúta
Kulapati (Chancellor), Ánanda Márga Gurukula — since 1990
PhD in business and applied economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; monk since 1979. Appointed first Chancellor when the founder established AMGK on 7 September 1990. International Mahatma Gandhi Award, 1992.
Ácárya Vijayánanda Avadhúta
The founder’s official biographer
Author of "The Life and Teachings of Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti" (Ánanda Márga Publications, 1994) and an early translator of Prabhat Samgiita.
Ácárya Dharmavedánanda Avadhúta
First Western avadhúta
Author of "Travels with the Mystic Master" — the key first-person account of wholetimer life and training.
Avadhútiká Ánanda Mitrá Ácáryá
The order’s most-published senior didi
Author of "The Spiritual Philosophy of Shrii Shrii Ánandamúrti" (a commentary on Ánanda Sútram), "Beyond the Superconscious Mind", and "Yoga for Health".
Didi Ánanda Sádhaná
Master Unit founder, three continents of service
Initiated 1977 in the Netherlands; postings from Bangkok to Nicaragua — where she founded a school — to Venezuela’s Centro Madre master unit; now teaching from the Prama centre, Mexico.
Didi Ánanda Bhárati
First worker of the Women’s Welfare Department
WWD’s first worker at its establishment — the department is led to this day by the Central Women’s Welfare Secretary.
Ácárya Madhuvratananda Avadhúta
Senior pracáraka — the teaching voice of the official channel
Delivers the discourse series on the organisation’s official channel — dharma, microvita, Prout and the future of civilisation — and was among the central representatives offering guidance at the Festival of Bliss 2025.
Ácárya Vimalananda Avadhúta
Retreat trainer, Delhi sector
Leads the three-day Yoga Sádhaná Shivira at Ananda Marga Polytechnic, Malur (October 2026) — meditation, yogic practices, kiirtan and discourses; also among the central representatives at the Festival of Bliss 2025.
Every ácárya teaches meditation without charge. That is not a promotion — it has been the rule since 1955.
Learn meditation, free